UNC-bound Griffin finishes second in golf invitational

Christ School (Asheville) golfer Jonathan Rector took advantage of a miscue on No. 18 by East Chapel Hill’s Ben Griffin and won the Tarheel Youth Golf Association N.C. High School Invitational at Treyburn Country Club on Monday.
“Bogeyed the last hole. It was my one bogey (Monday). But the last hole is pretty difficult out here,” Griffin said. “It’s a tough par-4, downhill, dogleg left, pretty long.”
Rector said he’d heard all about Griffin, so it meant something to beat a guy like that.
“I just sort of kept it in play all day and played pretty consistent,” Rector said. “I didn’t make any bogeys, and that really helped to just be able to just be patient out here and not have to force things.”
Rector shot 69. Griffin finished at 70. Pinecrest High School (Pinehurst) golfer Joshua Martin was in third place at 71.
Pinecrest was the top team (302), followed by Concord’s Cannon School (303). Broughton High School (Raleigh) and Christ School both finished at 304 to tie for third place.
No teams from Durham, Orange, Chatham or Granville counties were in the invitational.
In order to qualify for the invitational, teams and individuals last season had to be among the two top finishers in the state among the various classifications in public and private schools.
Among the individual qualifiers were Northern’s Michael Wicker (76, T12), Riverside’s Harry Schrickx Jr. (77, T19), and Voyager Academy’s McKenzie Barringer (86, T59).
Griffin, 17, said he’ll play in the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., next week before returning to swing his clubs during his final rounds in the regional and state championships. Then it’s off to North Carolina in the fall to compete on the college level.
“I was always a Tar Heel fan growing up, so it worked out well,” Griffin said. “I’ll major in business, hopefully. They have a good business school. So, hopefully, I’ll do that and definitely hope to keep my game pretty sharp there.”